Thrive Apple Cinnamon Energy Bars

Triathlete Brendan Brazier shared these raw energy bar recipes with us. While energy bars can be pricey, you can make them at home to control costs.



INGREDIENTS
1 small apple, cored
1 c dates
1/2 c cooked quinoa
1/4 c almonds
1/4 c flaxseed
1/4 c hemp protein (or your favorite protein powder)
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg

DIRECTIONS
In a food processor, process all ingredients until desired texture is reached. If you prefer a uniformly smooth bar, process longer. If you would rather a bar with more crunch and texture, blend for less time.

Remove mixture from processor and either shape into balls or a brick. To roll into balls, simply pinch off a desired amount and roll between your hands. To roll into a brick, which you can cut into bars, places mixture on plastic wrap and flatten, covering with another layer of plastic wrap. Use a rolling pin to roll mixture to the desired thickness, then cut into bars.

5 Fat Burning Foods

While I believe that diets don't work, it is still important to watch what we eat to promote healthy bodies. I'll be honest in saying that I do still treat myself to some McDonald's fries every now and then, however over all I do eat sensibly. I eat fresh salads at least three times a week, plenty of fruits and nuts and controlled portions. Drinking plenty of water is absolutely necessary to promote healthy digestion. To keep down bloating, stay away from carbonated drinks.  While fruit juice is a good alternative, they are usually high in caloric intake due to the natural sugar, so don't over do it.  

Here is a video I found on fat burning foods.  Foods such as this help me tremendously when I started my weight loss journey.

How much is too much?

People come up with every reason in the world not to do something for the right reason.  Are you selling yourself short.  Really, ask yourself, how much is too much to invest in yourself.  Aren't you tired of constantly going to the doctor to find out what's wrong now or to have prescriptions filled.  When you take the time to concentrate on losing weight, things such as thing will diminish.  Think of all the things you pay for for the wrong reasons, instead of for the right reasons.  You should never put a price on your health.

Great Hip Hop Workout

Ok guys, honestly being a young black woman, I was so shocked when I saw this video on youtube.  My first impression was, this is an older white woman doing a hip hop workout.  What?!.  Let me tell you guys, this lady was getting it in y'all. I did the workout and came out sweating bullets.  It was just as effective as my zumba workout.  I'm gonna have to keep this one in the archive.  I hope you guys like it.  Leave comments.

Corned Beef Hash

4 servings

Active Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 cups diced cooked potatoes, or frozen hash-brown potatoes
• 1 cup chopped lean corned beef brisket, (4 ounces, see Tip)
• 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 large eggs

Preparation

1. In a large cast-iron skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and sautá until it starts to brown, 5 to 8 minutes. Add potatoes and cook, stirring, until they brown in spots and become crusty, about 8 minutes more. Stir in corned beef and broth and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until liquid is absorbed, 5 to 8 minutes. Add parsley and season with salt and pepper.
2. Meanwhile, fill a large skillet with 2 inches salted water and bring to a gentle simmer. Break eggs, one at a time, onto a saucer and slide into the simmering water. Poach eggs until set to desired firmness, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Divide hash among 4 plates. Place eggs on top of hash.

Tips & Notes

• Tip: Corned beef can be purchased at your supermarket deli. Be sure to specify lean: it has 1 gram fat per ounce and an ounce of regular corned beef has 5 grams fat.

Nutrition

Per serving: 320 calories; 13 g fat ( 4 g sat , 6 g mono ); 240 mg cholesterol; 36 g carbohydrates; 15 g protein; 3 g fiber; 493 mg sodium; 695 mg potassium.
Carbohydrate Servings: 2
Exchanges: 2 starch, 1/2 vegetable, 2 medium-fat meat, 1/2 fat

Be Free with V3

It is time that we take our freedom back.  America is going through an epidemic with weight loss these days.  It only because of the rise in health care that fast food restaurants are starting to make MINOR changes in their menu selections.  It's time to take back what belongs to us!  Let freedom reign.

Try the V3 Challenge

Are you trying the V3 Challenge?  If not I dare you to V3 it up with me.  I've seen so many testimonies and pictures of those who have shed so many pounds just from taking on this challenge.  Why do I call this a challenge?  Well, it's one thing to say I'm going to try that, and it's another things to actually do.  Do I market this product? Yes.  Do I honestly believe in this product? Yes  Do I partake in the V3 Challenge? YES!!!!

Seriously people, take a look around, next time you go to the mall or to the grocery store.  Can you count how many people you see who are overweight.  You'd probably lose count as you shop.  However, I bet you can remember in detail about that slim person you saw.  What they had on and what stores they were shopping in.  If you are overweight, I'm sure you have said to yourself..."I really like the clothes in that store, but they don't carry my size."

I recently celebrated my first wedding anniversary.  My husband and I were having a wonderful time, hanging out in Grand Rapids, MI.  We decided to go swimming and my husband did not have a pair of swimming trunks, so we stopped at the local Marshall's to pick up one.  While my husband looked around, I went to the woman's section and low and behold I could not believe it.  This Marshall's had virtually no plus plus size section.  See here in the Chicagoland area, stores like Marshall's has sizes that go all the way up to a 26.  Uh, uh, not this Marshall's, they only went up to a size 18.  I was so disappointed

It's time to stop being ashamed of our weight and actually do something about it.  So I dare you to take the challenge with me.  I dare you to take one V3 pill per day and see if you will have the energy to get off that couch, chair or bed and replace that with some activity.  I dare you to deny the weight loss you will achieve with just one pill a day.  I dare you to say that one pill a day didn't keep you from chewing a hole through the refrigerator. 

If you are ready to take this challenge with me, then please contact me.  I will be more than happy to send your a sample to try before your buy. 

Today was a good day.

Seeing how I don't have my topic prepared for today's post, I thought I would just tell you all about my day.  If you haven't noticed, my goal is to make a post every other day.  I take one day to prepare my topic and post it the next day.  I don't have my topic prepared for today, because I have been hitting the pavement hard promoting my new business.

If you haven't heard, I am a Independent Associate for Voyager Health Technologies; the makers of my new favorite diet pill V3.  This diet pill is all natural, and I love it.  The pill suppresses your appetite, increases your energy level and improves your mood.  It also helps to detoxify the body, promoting a healthy digestive track, and can help prevent tumor growth in the body.  If you are interested in trying this product you can call me at (219)392-9054 or visit my website here. 

So back to my day.  My day started off with a sweet kiss on the check from my husband as he left for work today.  People keep telling me that this will fade away, but he never misses the opportunity to lay one on me.  Shortly after that, I got up to get my day started.  One of the biggest issues I have with getting ready in the morning is my hair.  My hair is all natural, so just like plants, how my hair looks in the morning all depends on the weather.  Well luckily the weather was on my side today, and my twist-out Afro puff was rocking today. I toke my V3, just before leaving out with a full glass of water, and off to work.

Now I have a long highway commute to work everyday, however the traffic was on my side today.  I made to work about 15 minutes earlier than normal, which afforded me some time to get my chat on before my shift.  Usually my first stop in the morning is my friend Amanda's desk.  I was so excited about getting my free samples today, I just bee-lined it to her and gave her one.  Now Amanda used to have this thing with caffeine pills, so I was sure that she would like the V3.  Well I was right, while should couldn't get the full effect, because she had already taken a caffeine pill, she still liked the product.  

So feeling good that I may have her as a potential customer, I let her get to work and started my shift.  We had an early meeting about some changes within the company and I was rather impressed.  I was expecting to hear the absolute worst, due to the fact that the upper management staff was all demoted.  However, the information shared was actually inspiring, for the first time of my 2 years with this company.  I've always been that employee that is just not happy with the company no matter what they do, because I see the imperfections and don't see them being addressed.

Lunch was absolutely wonderful.  I had cream of broccoli soup with fresh baked bread, the bomb.  Due to one of my co-workers leaving the company and joined him in a piece of cake, otherwise SAY NO TO BOOTY SPREADERS.  Told him good luck and that I would keep him in my prayers.  He is moving down south for some very personal reasons, so I wish him all the best. I was so happy that the afternoon went by as fast as it did, because I could not wait to get out to promote V3 during my evening walk in the park.

Man, oh man, was the park awesome.  Prior to getting there I printed out some generic fliers offering the business opportunity with my website listed on the back. Then printed off some product information for my cousin who is interested in trying the product.  So off I go towards IL to drop of a free sample and product information to my cousin.  I knew she would not be home, but this product speaks for itself, so I just left everything in her mailbox, so she can try it first thing in the morning.

So back towards home I go, me and my two boys.  They like to play basketball while I get my workout in.  So out the car with my fliers in hand, I start up my Cardio Trainer ( app review soon to come), and we're walking.  Today was really a good day because there were plenty of prospect in the park today.  So as I'm walking I pass out a few fliers to people as they rode their bikes, or sat on park benches while watching their children play.  With no one on the path for a while I pick up speed.

Well, low and behold, a lady is racing after me on a bike, "Excuse me miss".  She had questions about the product, and ding their was my second prospect for the day.  I told her all about V3 and the Voyager Health Technologies business opportunity and she was all over it.  She walked with me back to my car, and I happily gave her a free sample.  She said she's in the park quite often, so I told her I'd catch up to her tomorrow to see how she liked it.  I made sure she was aware of my number on the flier as well as the website information.

She rode away with a big huge smile on her face.  I pass out a few more fliers and run into a lady born and raise in Africa.  She explained that she was a hair stylist studying to get her CNA license.  She was so drawn to me and about the information about the product she walked with me while pushing her baby until I finished my workout.  So you know I got her number locked in my phone right.  I walked over a mile with her trying to build of that likability factor so that she would fell comfortable going into business with me.  By the way, gave her a sample to try as well.  Now she was a little skeptical, so I gave her some detailed product information too.

All in all, today was indeed a good day.  Why you may ask?  Because I reached my personal goal of giving out two free samples to perfect strangers today.  I don't get out much because I'm so busy with my family and church.  So I was bit concerned about marketing this product to it's fullest potential.  I'm so proud of myself.  I haven't been this focused about my business since I did customer service work from home.  I am enjoying myself so much, because I am pushing myself to the limit.  And I love a good challenge.

Are you drinking enough water to lose weight?

Have you ever taken the time to think about how much water to consume for proper weight loss?  Most people live by that “golden rule”, drink eight 8oz. glasses of water per day.  Well, people, I hate to burst your bubble but this is just a myth.  Or should I say, this could be a rule of thumb for inactive slim people.  Truth of the matter is, if you are trying to lose weight , you have to drink enough water according to how much you weight to promote healthy weight loss.  

There are several reasons why you should pay attention to the amount of what you drink, especially when trying to lose weight.  Mainly, you do not want to dehydrate your body.  Here are some ways to tell if you are dehydrated:

• Lack of energy, fatigue in the afternoon
• Always hungry 
• Rough, dry skin
• Dry mucus membranes
• Weak irregular rapid heart beat
• Low blood pressure
• Sudden weight loss

These are just a few symptoms.  However there are some long term effects to dehydration as well:

• Premature aging
• Wrinkled skin
• Aches and pains

Best way to be sure you are not dehydrating your self is to stay educated on what will dry you out.  Drinks like coffee, soda pop or alcohol can cause dehydration symptoms.  Even some water can cause dehydration, such as fluoridated or chlorinated water.  As you know, most tap water and bottled water has fluoride in it.  Next time your purchase bottled water, take a look.  I will have to do a piece on fluoride in the water, but that’s another blog post.

What can you do to prevent dehydration?

• Drink a full glass o water upon rising in the morning and before going to bed
• Keep a glass of water at your bedside
• Drink a glass of water before and after athletic events and activities
•  Fill a pitcher that holds 8 glasses of water and be sure to drink it completely daily.

     

·         

·         So you are probably asking yourself at this point, how much water should I be drinking to lose weight?  Well that all depends on how much you weight.  I found a website, dietnation, which will calculate this for me.  I just put in how much I weight and it told me that I should be drinking at least 16 glasses of water each day.  Now you are the forgetful type like me, there are tools available to help you to remember to drink water.

 I myself use an application on my cell phone called Drink Water Beta  for Android created by Asplink.  This app is very basic, yet very effective.  You just put in how many cups of water you want to drink daily and set up your notifications.  You can set what time you want the notifications to begin and end, so your phone is not telling you to drink water while you are sleeping.  As you drink your water throughout the day, just pull the app up and click a cup as you finish each glass of water.  It will record that cup of water and what time you drank it.  Love this app.

Me personally, I think this is the main factor many people forget about when trying to lose weight.  You have to give your body the water it needs to increase your weight loss.  This will also help to flush out toxins in your body that is helping your body to hold on to weight.  Yes you will go to the bathroom often, but you will love the results each time you step on the scale.

Feel free to leave a comment on this post if you have some other water tips and tricks.